Welp it has taken over a month but Chapter 5 is here. I unintentionally ended up making it 17 pages long (21 with the format I use for Serebii Forums). Definitely the longest chapter I've written in my life (and knowing me, it probably won't be the last).
But first some replies!
Chibi Pika - I am so sorry my story has taken off a few years of your life. I guess I'm going to have to put health and safety warnings on later chapters now.
But seriously I am really glad you like what I'm doing. It makes me happy to know that other people really enjoy reading the things I write and it makes my day. I do intend this to be a slightly different sort of journeyfic in terms of the, er, "formula" shall we put it, that usually pops up with these kinds of fanfics.
JX Valentine - OHMYGOD SENPAI NOTICED ME!!!!! *fangirls* I wholeheartedly agree with your opinions on Gen V fanfics. When done right they can be interesting and fun. Sure Ghetsis was a flat villain but he wasn't really the focus, he was merely the puppetmaster even if he wasn't as memorable as other villains who do the same thing (porky from MOTHER 3 comes to mind). Of course I've had to think really deeply about how Team Plasma won and what they did after N was made king, but most of it is completely mapped out so I am forbidden from spoiling anything as of now.
I had to study young children a lot while making Danny so I am pleased people like her. If I had a pound for every person who had whiny kids as protagonists, I'd be very rich indeed. It can work if written well but it's easier said than done. You pretty much summed up how I wanted people to see Talbot (or "Tobias" as you called him xD) as: one big papa wolf who just wants to protect Danny. Then there are your comments about Unova. I actually used the emotions and experiences I felt when I first played a pokemon game. To me, the Johto region was a character itself, and that opinion has stuck with me regardless of the games I'm playing. So of course, I ended up applying this same line of thought to my fanfics.
Something that really struck me about your review was your comments on the way my pokemon act. Believe it or not, this is also from experience. I have Asperger's Syndrome and a lot of people with the condition actually get along with animals on a far greater scale than most people. The animals I have encountered over the years have all had one thing in common: they are remarkably like us in the ways that they express themselves or how they act. You'd be surprised at how much thankfulness a beetle can show when you help clean hardened mud from its mouth and give it something to drink. They're small things most people don't usually notice and to be able to express these things in the form of writing (especially with a versatile series like Pokemon) is a wonderful gift. Glad you like Balance so far, Jax!
DreamSayer - Kids are drawn to danger like flies are drawn to honey, it was the perfect sort of setup to get Danny down into the depths of Unova. Thanks for your review!
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CHAPTER 4
Striaton was more what Danny had in mind when it came to cities, with skyscrapers that rose up into the sky like firm pillars and the roads were nowhere near as cracked or overflowing with wildlife. But even here amongst familiarity she didn’t feel completely comfortable. While the tall buildings reminded her of New Castelia they were still nothing when compared to the skyscrapers in the high street. They were also caked in layers of dirt and plants that tapered down the structures, covering them with green shawls that swayed in the wind from time to time. Danny thought that they were actually more like skeletons than buildings – empty and scary – who’s only true purpose was to remind her that at one stage people and possibly pokemon had lived in them.
The group decided to hit the Pokemon Center first. It was their best bet of finding anything that would be of use after all. But alas, as they made their way through the open doors Danny’s heart sank a little bit. The entire place appeared to have been picked clean, right down to the shelves where the potions had been on display. ‘This isn’t surprising,’ Talbot said as he leant over the counter, hoping to find some stray items others could’ve missed. ‘Most scavengers try out their luck here first, but it doesn’t hurt to check – you never know what people might overlook.’
Danny didn’t respond. She just sat on the edge of the moth-eaten sofas while Wigglytuff stood steadfastly at the doors.
They were luckier when they entered the back of the building beyond the healing machines. Most of the metal racks which had stored certain medical supplies were completely empty bar one, and on this rack were a couple of unopened packs of bandages and another bottle of the clear liquid Talbot had used on Danny’s injuries. So all in all, it wasn’t a total loss for the group.
They went on to check a few other places, and yet again they came away with very little. But what few things they got meant Danny was finally going to be able to eat something other than beef jerky, thanks to inspecting some cupboards in one of the few houses that didn’t look like it could fall apart at any second. Miraculously enough, there had been a couple of label less cans hidden away, and Talbot had grinned at her when she’d brought them to him. ‘These cans are in brilliant shape,’ he told her as he ran a finger across the edge of one. ‘You’d be surprised at how long food can last in these things.’
Danny furrowed her brow. ‘Won’t the food be old and really yucky and gross, though?’
Talbot shrugged. ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ he said as he packed the cans away. ‘We’ll decide when we’ve got the chance to open them up.’
Other than the nasty grownup at the edge of the city, there was not a single human soul to be seen. On one hand Danny liked this – she didn’t particularly want to encounter another man like him, and just thinking about how he’d looked at her made her fingers feel cold and sweaty. Yet at the same time she wondered if she’d ever encounter another human like Talbot ever again. It felt so strange to be wandering the streets while being the only people around, especially when Danny was so used to the liveliness of New Castelia.
It was only natural that she stopped in her tracks when she heard the clack of footsteps against cold concrete. By then they had given up on tackling any other houses and were back on the streets. The clacking was unmistakeable – especially when it was the only sound for what felt to Danny like miles. Talbot must’ve heard it too, because now he had halted while Wigglytuff stood in front of him.
What met Danny’s eyes when the steps grew closer was a far cry from the man who’d taken a disturbing amount of interest in her. The most obvious thing that stood out was that this person was a woman – a woman dressed in clothes equally as scruffy and well-worn as Talbot’s, with a hand in one pocket and the other holding what appeared to be a rusty pipe. She also appeared to be wearing the remains of a tattered cooking apron around her front, one that was completely covered in dull brown rosettes that Danny assumed to be food stains (or at least she hoped they were just food stains).
The second thing Danny noticed was that the woman wasn’t alone – perched on her shoulders was an orange monkey that had to be at least half of the six-year old’s height, most likely a pokemon like Purrloin and Wigglytuff. The woman paused when her eyes met Danny and Talbot, her grasp on the pipe slackening ever so slightly. She raised an eyebrow as she passed a glance to her companion. Danny stared at the monkey – its tail and tufts of fur on its head sort of reminded her of the flames from a fire. She gnawed at her lower lip. Did this mean the monkey could use some sort of fire magic like the wizards and dragons in her storybooks?
The woman lifted a hand to pat her pokemon’s arm, a smirk edging the corner of her mouth. ‘What do you think, Pansear, my boy?’ she asked. ‘Are they a threat or not?’
Her Pansear chittered and swung down using his owner’s arm as something to hold on to before dropping to the ground. Wigglytuff stepped forward with a stern ‘Yoom-tah,’ and the two stood in front of each other in silence for a few seconds.
Pansear broke first. ‘Eek,’ he said, casting a mitten-like paw to his owner. ‘Skee, eek.’
Wigglytuff glanced back to Danny and Talbot, her ears turning like radars. ‘Yoom,’ she responded. ‘Yoom-tah.’
What followed was about a minute or so of talking between the two pokemon, none of which Danny could understand. Then, with a satisfied smile spreading across the monkey’s face, Pansear returned to his owner’s side, nodding confidently. ‘Ah.’ The woman knelt down so that her pokemon could return to his perch while Wigglytuff bounced back over to Talbot. ‘Well blow me backwards,’ the woman said, rubbing her forehead. ‘It’s been a while since we’ve come across someone who isn’t one of those grubby little looters.’ She smiled and waved to Danny and Talbot. ‘The name’s Gloria – but I like to be called Mustard.’ She spread her arms out. ‘Welcome to Striaton City!’
Danny scanned Mustard from top to bottom, her lips tightening. Mustard? She had heard some pretty weird nicknames while at school, but to use something you spread on hotdogs? That actually sounded kind of dumb when she thought about it long enough. It wasn’t the weirdest thing she’d seen or heard so far, but she still had a hard time swallowing it.
Talbot didn’t look very impressed either. He just stood there with his eyes half closed and his arms folded. ‘That’s nice,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘But we really need to get going sooner rather than later.’ He gave Mustard a dismissive wave as he walked by. ‘Come on, Danny.’
Danny was about to turn and follow when Wigglytuff’s ears perked – just as they’d done before the man on the outskirts appeared. ‘Wait - !’ Mustard cried, freezing Talbot in place as she put a finger to her mouth. ‘Listen.’
Talbot looked back, his lips parted, possibly with the intention of saying something back to Mustard. But he didn’t, instead he stood still and shut his mouth, raising his line of vision up. It didn’t take long for Danny to find out what Mustard picked up upon. It was slight at first – the faint whispering rattle of what could be items or plastic bottles clacking together and the mumbling of deeper voices that sounded more like Talbot’s. It soon became clear that the three trainers and their pokemon were about to find more company very, very quickly.
‘This way,’ Mustard beckoned, indicating to a small alleyway shrouded in rubble. ‘We can’t let them see us.’
Talbot stepped back before turning and running towards Danny, taking her by the hand and following Mustard with Wigglytuff not too far behind. They ducked down behind a particularly large mound consisting of hunks of concrete and broken bricks, kneeling against the cold pavement as the rattling sounds grew closer. By now the people were close enough so that Danny could make out what they were saying. Her breaths stifled as she huddled up against one of the walls, her fists pressed against her chest.
‘I thought I heard something from over here,’ one of the voices, rasp and gruff, said. The tinny rattling sounds grew to a halt. ‘Voices – ones we haven’t heard before.’
‘It’s probably just more looters like us,’ another voice, this one sharper in tone, piped up. ‘I wouldn’t worry about them – they’d probably not have very much on them anyways so mugging them would be completely pointless.’
Mustard stole the chance to peek ever so slightly from the mound of rubble she was hiding against. She popped her head up for a millisecond before shrinking back down, her jawline tight and her grip on the mounds of concrete tense. Talbot turned to her, mouthing ‘How many?’
Mustard’s tongue poked through her teeth and she put up three fingers. ‘Stay still,’ she mouthed in return.
Danny shivered. She didn’t even want to think about catching a glimpse of these people – just knowing that they were there was enough to raise the hairs on the back of her neck.
‘Come on,’ another voice finally said, breaking through the silent conversation Talbot and Mustard were having. ‘We’ve got to find the new guy – wherever he’s gone off too.’
‘You’re right,’ the first voice chimed in. There was a click followed by a sound that Danny could only describe as the creaking noise of something being shoved into a leather pocket. ‘He’ll be on the outskirts – that’s where I sent him today.’ What the guy said next made Danny’s stomach bunch together in knots. ‘I put him on lookout duties to see if he’s able to mug any trainers that come by.’
Danny glanced at Talbot, who returned the wary look before putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and in that moment she realised how thankful she was that Talbot had found her before anybody else.
. . .
‘Those guys have been here for two weeks or so,’ Mustard told them as they headed in the direction that the looters had come from. Danny thought it was a smart move – the further away they were from those people, the better. ‘Or at least I think it was two weeks ago, it’s hard to tell sometimes,’ she continued, scratching her head. ‘They just waltzed on in one day and I don’t think they’ll leave until they’ve snatched up everything that the city has on offer.’
Talbot rubbed his forehead. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘In that case, do you think you can tell us the quickest way to get out of here? I don’t want to run into any more trouble today, thank you.’
A smile peeked from the corners of Mustard’s mouth. ‘I’ll do more than that.’ She clicked her fingers and her Pansear jumped down from her shoulders again. ‘I’ve shacked up in a building not too far from here – you’re welcome to join me and rest your legs for a bit.’
‘That won’t be needed,’ Talbot said, shaking his head slowly. ‘Just show us out of the city and that’s all we’ll ask from you.’
Mustard fixed her line of sight on Danny. ‘The kid looks tired,’ she continued. ‘And trust me – if I weren’t being honest, your Wigglytuff would notice it in a heartbeat.’
Wigglytuff bounced curtly as if to fortify this statement. ‘Yoom-tah.’
Talbot tutted and rolled his eyes. ‘Very well,’ he said and glared at Mustard. ‘But I will not hold back if I think you’re doing anything funny.’
‘Fine by me,’ Mustard said, shrugging briefly. Then she turned around and headed across the road to the north. ‘It’s only a few minutes from here – just keep up and we’ll be there in no time at all.’
It wasn’t hard to pick out the building Mustard was talking about – it stuck out like a sore thumb against the other apartments, being much smaller than the others. There was a sign on the front of the building in the shape of a pokeball and above that there were the grimy remains of another set of pictures Danny recognised. Only one of them was intact enough to indicate what the complete set had once been and that was the figure of a fork. Danny guessed that at one stage there had been a knife and a spoon as well, she’d seen it on shops in the high street enough times to assume this.
‘Here we are,’ Mustard said proudly. ‘It’s not much on the outside, but I’ve deliberately left it looking like that.’ She offered another wry smile. ‘It stops people from being drawn to the place, you know what I mean?’
Neither Danny nor Talbot replied but it still made complete sense regardless.
The interior of the first room the group entered confirmed Danny’s thoughts about the place being like a café – mostly because the entire room was filled with round tables and chairs, some of which had been upturned. There were shards of dishes and bowls littering the carpet too, as well as dining utensils that had long since lost their silvery gleam. Talbot scratched his chin. ‘You don’t have much, do you?’
Mustard chuckled and smiled wryly at her Pansear. ‘We’re not camping out here in the open, if that’s what you mean.’ She weaved her way past the sorry-looking dining tables and stopped in front of a long curtain in an unassuming corner of the room. ‘We’ve set up shop in here, actually.’ She grabbed the curtain and pulled it aside, revealing a door that clearly hadn’t been there when the café was alive with customers. It had been made of plywood and the hinges had cracked some of the paint covering the walls. ‘See?’
Talbot flicked a nod to Wigglytuff who turned to him and waved one of her paws. He huffed and put a hand on his hip. ‘Let us in, then.’
The door needed oiling because it creaked when Mustard pushed it in. She waited until the others were in the small corridor before pulling the curtain across again and shutting the door behind her.
The corridor led to another very large room – this one much wider than the first – and there was the unmistakeable scent of dry herbs in the air. Danny’s nose wrinkled and she couldn’t stop herself from attempting to supress a sneeze – it didn’t work, and she ended up having to use her hands to stop the vapour from going everywhere. In addition to the scent of herbs there was also the sharp smell of ash. It didn’t take Danny long to find the source of this smell either – one of the walls had been torn down at some point, revealing what looked like a stove that had its top torn off. In the middle of this stove was a bed of burning wood and above that was a cooking pot suspended by a metal bar that had been welded to the sides of the walls.
‘Yeah, sorry about the smells,’ Mustard said as she set her rucksack down. ‘The herbs I collected last week still haven’t completely dried so you’ll probably be sneezing for a little while.’
Talbot folded his arms. ‘You’ve managed to find some herbs in a place like this?’
‘Yup, they were in the gardens out back – completely fresh and ready to be harvested,’ Mustard replied, nodding confidently. ‘You get used to the smells after a while – it’s actually quite pleasant to come home to, sometimes.’
Danny surveyed the room, taking in its fine details. ‘I’ve never seen a place like this before.’
Mustard ran a hand through her hair. ‘I was born and raised here,’ she began, a fond gleam forming in her eyes. ‘Ma and Pa came to this city about a week before I was born – they’d kept themselves going by relying more on the plants and herbs available to them rather than scouring houses.’ She folded her arms and smiled warmly. ‘I was their little mustard seed – that’s where my nickname comes from you know,’ she said. ‘Taught me everything I knew, they did – god rest their souls.’ Mustard gestured to the cooking pot on the fire. ‘I’ve got a soup on the boil,’ she told them. ‘You’re free to have some when it’s at the right temperature – soup isn’t the same to me unless it’s piping hot enough to keep your stomach warm.’
Danny closed her eyes and inhaled. It did smell quite nice. She turned when she heard the chattering squeaks coming from Mustard’s Pansear, who was talking with Purrloin. Purrloin didn’t look very interested – she rolled her eyes and yawned while the Pansear lectured her. Danny didn’t realise that he was talking about her until he pointed at her with a serious gaze fixed on the bored, purple feline.
Purrloin didn’t look impressed. She stood on her hind legs with a paw on her hip. ‘Mrow,’ she said back in a bored voice. ‘Mrow, meow, mr-ow.’
Pansear tutted and shrugged his shoulders. ‘Skree.’
He wandered off over to Wigglytuff to, from what Danny guessed, have a more fruitful talk with her. Purrloin glanced at them before turning to Danny and scoffing, turning her nose up at the girl as she turned her back and strolled off, as independent as ever.
Dinner that night was not what Danny expected. The soup Mustard had been making was served in some old mugs that looked like they hadn’t been touched for years. Danny examined her mug carefully – the liquid itself was the colour of peanut butter and floating on the surface were little black specks of what she assumed to be boiled herb leaves. She swallowed thickly. It didn’t look very appetizing to her, but her rumbling tummy was more than ready to remind her that she hadn’t eaten anything for a while.
Danny brought the mug to her nose and slowly sniffed – it didn’t smell bad at least. She licked her lips and tilted the mug, lapping carefully so that only a small amount entered her mouth. Her eyes widened when the taste hit her tongue. ‘Oh!’
Talbot, who was already halfway through his soup, looked over. ‘What is it?’
Danny showed him the mug, a smile forming across her face. ‘This is really good!’
‘Thank you,’ Mustard said as she helped herself to another portion. ‘It’s a family recipe passed down from Pa to me – he’d be happy to know you love it.’
Danny went to bed that night in a very good mood, even if the nagging thoughts of her family came back to haunt her after everyone had settled down. She sighed as she tried to straighten out her thoughts, her arms wrapping around her chest. How were they doing up there without her? She had no clue but she could imagine hundreds of guards scouring the streets of Bands B and C, desperately attempting to find her. Her chest tightened – knowing fully well that they’d never find her up there.
It had to be quite early in the morning when she next woke up – still dark, she imagined – because she opened her eyes to find that the room was still pitch black. She was shivering again and this time she found that she was holding her arms so tightly that she was sure her fingers would leave big blotchy bruises. Danny frowned. Since when had it gotten so cold? Had the heat from Mustard’s cooking fire vanished while she was asleep?
She shifted and peeked out from her blankets and the brilliant glowing shades of red and orange stood out blatantly against the darkness. Danny’s teeth began to chatter and she flinched. It was too cold for her to go back to sleep now – the inviting warmth of the fireplace was more than enough to motivate her to slide out from her nest and tiptoe over to steal some of its heat for herself.
Her eyes began adjusting to the dark and Danny suddenly realised that she wouldn’t be alone. A small bundle was resting there too – rising and falling with each slow breath. It was Purrloin – who had been curled up next to the lingering embers. She unfurled when Danny got up and watched her on all fours, only pausing to scratch behind one of her ears with a hind leg.
Danny tilted her head, gnawing at her lower lip slowly. Purrloin hadn’t hissed at her for once – and come to think of it, she had almost immediately set to cleaning herself. Isn’t that what Talbot said was a sign of being relaxed about her surroundings?
Purrloin’s eyes bore into Danny’s and they stared at each other in silence for a while and a bead of sweat ran down Danny’s neck. What should she do? Her heart told her to try and talk to Purrloin, but her head told her otherwise. She shrunk back into her skin as she thought about the possibility of adding yet another set of scratches to her arms and she almost began trembling. Nope, she didn’t particularly want that to happen anytime soon.
What had Talbot done again? Danny shut her eyes and the mental image of him tossing the bag of beef jerky to her popped up in her mind. With her instructions clear, the little girl got up and moved around to the pot to keep the distance between her and Purrloin for as long as possible. Purrloin didn’t say a word, but her head followed, watching Danny with keen interest. One of her ears flicked back when Danny approached the still lukewarm pot.
It didn’t take long for the cat pokemon to catch wind of Danny’s plan. She turned the rest of her body and sat with her head perked, following Danny’s hands as she lifted the lid of the pot and reached for a mug that wasn’t dirty yet. The ladle wasn’t far away either, and she carefully dipped it so that there was just enough soup to fill half the cup. Danny’s gaze returned to Purrloin and she pointed to the mug, speaking softly so that she didn’t wake the others up. ‘Do you want some?’
Purrloin blinked slowly. Danny assumed that meant yes.
She hardly had any time to set the mug down on the floor before Purrloin fell upon it. She expected her to dive in face first, but instead the feline opted for dipping a paw into the liquid and licking it like she was washing her fur.
Danny was completely wordless throughout this moment, but inside her mind and heart were fighting louder than ever before. She tossed her thoughts back and forth and by then her hands were two steps ahead. She slowly raised a trembling index finger to Purrloin’s face as she cleaned the last of her pawful of soup, her teeth clamped tightly together. If Purrloin so much as growled then she wasn’t going to take any chances, and half of her could already imagine the pokemon suddenly leaping back and snarling, just as she’d done the first time Danny had tried to do this.
But she didn’t. Instead she just kept licking her paw, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on her owner as her index finger drew closer and closer.
She didn’t quite know what to expect from the first physical contact. Part of her thought back to Purrloin’s display of anger, but the other half wondered what would happen if the cat pokemon actually let her do what she was seconds away from doing. She gasped quietly when the tip of her finger met fur. It didn’t feel anything like Danny thought it would. She had been anticipating sleekness, but instead the very first sensation to hit was oily and moist.
By now Purrloin had stopped washing and her full attention was given to her owner. Danny carefully dragged the finger up before pulling it away and pressing again in an attempt to stroke the bridge of her nose. Purrloin’s expression slowly began to change, her lids sliding over her eyeballs until they were halfway across, and she stayed like this for a few seconds more before bringing her paw up again. But rather than swiping or hissing, Purrloin merely pushed Danny’s finger away politely with a firm ‘Mrow.’
She got the message almost immediately. She withdrew her hand and placed it on her lap, relief swelling up in her chest. Purrloin yawned, showing her pointy fangs briefly, and sank back down so that she was curled up by the ashes again.
Danny tore her gaze away from Purrloin, propping her head with her arm, ignoring how her elbow dug into her knee. Trying to process what had just happened as well as fighting off the desire to go back to sleep for just a few minutes more. She eventually gave in and returned to her sleeping bag, giving Purrloin one last lingering look before shutting her eyes and drifting off once again.
. . .
A fine haze had rolled in during the rest of the night, and it blanketed Striaton in a wispy fog that made the forlorn buildings look eerie and otherworldly. Danny had to take a minute to take in this strangely pretty sight while Talbot and Mustard closed up the entrance to Mustard’s base. Wigglytuff and Mustard’s Pansear kept watch as usual, but now they weren’t the only pokemon outside. Danny had decided not to return Purrloin to her pokeball. Somehow, as the little purple feline sat waiting on the sidewalk, Danny doubted that she was going to run away or refuse to follow – not after what had happened last night at least.
Talbot was the first to return to the streets. ‘So,’ he began, sliding his hands into his pockets. ‘Where do we go from here?’
Mustard shut the door to the café and pointed to the west. ‘We’re not too far from the edge of the city,’ she replied. ‘It’s only a ten minute walk – fifteen minutes if we want to take our time.’
After a while Pansear’s ears perked up and he started chattering urgently. ‘Skree!’
Mustard tilted her head. ‘What’s wrong, Pansear?’
Pansear leapt down from his owner’s shoulders and ran down the road, gesturing for Mustard to follow.
Mustard offered the two of them a glance. ‘Hold on, I’ll be right back.’
And she followed Pansear without another word.
Talbot and Danny stood in silence, waiting for Mustard to return. For a while it was relatively peaceful, but after a few moments Danny couldn’t help but wonder if she was hearing things – because for a moment she could’ve sworn that she’d heard a clicking sound somewhere in one of the alleyways. Her hands tensed. Was Mustard returning through the alleys or something?
They didn’t get enough time to realise what was going on. There was a loud BANG! and Danny yelped, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. Purrloin suddenly dropped to all fours and snarled, facing the direction that the noise had come from. ‘
****!’ Danny heard Talbot shout, even if it was muffled by her hands. ‘There’s a gun – one of them has a gun!’
And then there was a scream – it sounded more like a yowl, but Danny couldn’t really tell the difference. She opened her eyes and saw Purrloin facing up against a monster Danny hadn’t seen before – a lizard pokemon with orange skin that folded at its waist, giving it the appearance of someone wearing very baggy pants.
‘Purrloin!’ Danny cried and ran over before the lizard pokemon glanced at her. It whipped around and grunted at her, hunching its shoulders and growling. Danny paused and stepped back slightly, her eyes darting from Purrloin to the new pokemon.
‘Well, well, well,’ came a familiar voice. Danny looked over her shoulder and her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who was speaking. The grownup from yesterday stood in front of the group – and behind him stood two other men. ‘I thought you two might be sneaking around here.’
Talbot tensed his fists and opened his mouth, ready to give Wigglytuff an order.
But the grownup beat him to the punch. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ he said and nodded to one of the men beside him – a burly guy wearing fingerless gloves. In one of his hands was what Danny assumed to be the source of the bang (and possibly the clicking noises too) from earlier – a revolver, gleaming wickedly as the light caught its silver body.
There was a screeching hiss – it was Purrloin, now sizing the lizard pokemon up, her lips drawn back into a snarl that revealed her needle-like teeth. The other monster seemed equally as ready to fight. It hunched over, shoulders tense and offered Purrloin an equally as sharp scowl. The grownup laughed and nudged the shoulder of the man on his right. ‘Looks like your Scraggy wants to get a piece of that Purrloin over there. Mick.’
Mick, a tank of a man who looked so big to Danny that she feared that he might be able to squash her with his bare hands, looked in her direction with a toothy grin. Her skin broke out into gooseflesh and her hands instinctively curled up tightly, bringing them to her chest without thinking. ‘That’s enough!’ Talbot said firmly, stepping in front of Danny just as he had done during their first encounter with the looter. ‘Leave the girl out of this.’
But Mick’s grin didn’t waver in the slightest. ‘She’s got a pokemon,’ he replied, pointing a sausage-like finger in Danny’s direction. ‘That means she’s fair game, just like you are.’
And then, out of the corner of Danny’s eye, a streak of orange could be seen leaping from corner to corner. She recognised this blur immediately and she tightened her legs, refusing to say anything and hoping that the grownup and his friends hadn’t seen her reaction.
‘Now,’ Mick continued. Pansear was perched upon a ruined wall now. ‘How about you hand the girl over?’ He shoved his hands into his pockets. Another leap and Pansear was closer. ‘Then we’ll let you go without any problems.’
Another leap. Pansear was almost within earshot now.
Talbot suddenly looked up and his eyes froze when they locked onto Pansear. Danny bit her lip. Now he’d done it – they were going to look behind and then the man with the gun was gonna shoot.
‘Screw that, man!’ The other man on the grownup’s right said, drawing the looter’s attention away from Talbot. ‘Let’s just take them out and get it over with –’
He didn’t get the chance to say anything else, because at that moment Pansear lunged upon the man with the gun. Landing on his head and screaming in a high-pitched voice. ‘
Holy ****!’ the looter shouted, eyes wide and jumping back as his friend dropped the gun.
‘
Get this thing off of me!’ his friend howled, pawing madly at Pansear, who merely dodged each unsuccessful swipe and opened his mouth.
Above the confusion Danny could hear Mustard’s voice. ‘Pansear, use Ember!’
And within that moment a small flame erupted from Pansear’s mouth, immediately setting the man’s hair alight. The man screamed again and this time Danny couldn’t hear what his friends were saying in response. Talbot pointed to the panicking men and glanced at Wigglytuff. ‘Now’s your chance, Wigglytuff,’ he said. ‘Use Rollout!’
Wigglytuff lunged forward into a barrelling roll and didn’t give the men a chance to avoid her. She ploughed through the looter who screeched in pain while Mick ran out of the way, his grin melting into a furious snarl. ‘Scraggy,’ he barked. ‘Use Headbutt!’
Danny just got enough time to turn around to see that the Scraggy had broken its standoff with Purrloin. It buckled down, aiming its head at Purrloin who was still hissing. ‘Purrloin!’ Danny shouted as the Scraggy charged, but thankfully it looked like Purrloin knew what was coming too. She leapt to the side just as her opponent was about to strike and he ended up crashing into the pavement behind her, sending flecks and shards of concrete flying into the air.
Danny’s shoulders sagged for a moment before tensing right back up again. She pressed her dry lips together. What was she going to do now? She had a few seconds to spare because the Scraggy, having ploughed through solid concrete, had actually gotten stuck in the pavement and was now desperately trying to pull his head out while Purrloin began washing herself in a furious attempt to flatten her fur. Danny stole the chance to peek over her shoulder at Talbot, now joined by Mustard in the onslaught against the looter and his friends. ‘Talbot!’ she shouted. ‘What do I do now?’
But her words were drowned out by the yelps firing off from both sides of the battlefield. There was another howl and Danny turned to see that the Scraggy had freed himself and was readying another Headbutt. ‘That’s it, Scraggy!’ Mike called. ‘Tear that kitty to pieces!’
Danny’s mind (as well as her heart) was racing. What was she going to do? What should she do? She suddenly caught sight of the scratches running up her arms and tensed herself, steeping forward. ‘Use your claws, Purrloin!’
At first Purrloin only offered Danny a passive glance but this changed when the Scraggy charged – this time making contact with the feline pokemon’s front. Purrloin screeched as she tumbled back and came to a halt in front of Danny’s feet. ‘Purrloin!’ Danny cried and bent down, placing a hand on Purrloin's back without realising what she was doing. ‘C’mon – you’ve got to get up and fight,’ she said, almost begging. ‘Please, Purrloin!’
Purrloin didn’t move – or at least Danny didn’t think she was going to – but after a second or two her paws began to twitch and, gritting her teeth as she did, the cat began to push herself up again. Somewhere behind Danny came the voice of Talbot, who ordered: ‘Wigglytuff, use Disable!’ followed by a furious growl from Mike.
‘Dammit!’ he snarled. Danny looked over to Scraggy and saw exactly why Mike was so mad. Wigglytuff had now joined the fight against the Scraggy, and it appeared that the Scraggy had been about to perform another Headbutt because he looked like he was ready to charge again. But now he was starting to pull back, flinching and groaning while Wigglytuff stood between him and Danny’s Purrloin.
Purrloin was now on all fours and looked ready to give the Scraggy a piece of her mind. The fur on the back of her neck rose and she sprung forward. ‘That’s it,’ Danny said. ‘Now,
scratch him with your claws!’
Purrloin’s claws unsheathed like miniscule daggers and she plunged them into the Scraggy’s flesh, causing her enemy to screech in pain. He pulled back and found that both Purrloin and Wigglytuff were ganging up on him now. A vein underneath Mick’s neck began throbbing, his face becoming a very vibrant shade of red and to Danny it looked like he was about to burst an artery. She backed away even more. If the man’s head was going to explode, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him when it happened.
‘Good job,’ Talbot said. ‘Now finish him off with –’
But Mick beat Talbot to the punch, bellowing ‘Low Kick!’ loudly. His Scraggy whipped around to face Purrloin again and darted forward, sweeping his leg out and catching Purrloin’s paws before she could react. She yowled and fell to the concrete with a sharp thud.
‘
Purrloin!’ Danny screamed. Without thinking, she ran to her fallen pokemon. She didn’t care if she was putting herself in danger; all she wanted was to get Purrloin away from the Scraggy before it ended up killing her. Her knees buckled when she reached Purrloin and placed a trembling hand on her shoulder. ‘Are you okay?’
Without any order from Mike, Scraggy growled and raised his foot again, ready to strike Purrloin regardless of weither Danny was in his way or not.
Talbot was two steps ahead. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth. ‘Pound!’
Wigglytuff snapped to attention and stood in front of Danny and Purrloin, acting as a big pink shield. She caught the Scraggy with her stubby hand just before it made contact with her abdomen and Danny felt her jaw drop. She watched as Wigglytuff’s punch pressed against the Scraggy’s jaw and this time the reptile didn’t fight back. His joints went limp as he rocketed back towards the pavement, bouncing once – then twice – across the concrete until he came to a stop by the corner of a wall.
After that, he did not get back up again.
There were more howls of pain – this time coming from behind the brawl between the pokemon. All three trainers turned to see Mustard standing triumphantly on the road, watching as the now battered and bruised looters were fleeing. ‘****!’ Mike spat and took out a pokeball, pointing it at Scraggy’s body. A red beam emanated from the centre and coated the fainted pokemon in red light before dragging it back into the safety of the sphere. He offered Danny and Talbot a furious glare before turning tail and running, most likely following his partners back from whichever part of town they came from.
Not a word was spoken for a few heartbeats – maybe it was because the three of them all needed time to calm down, or maybe it was disbelief that they had made it through the onslaught – but it didn’t stop Talbot from running over to check Purrloin’s wounds. ‘Danny,’ he began while examining a particularly bad cut going across Purrloin’s side. Danny assumed it was from landing on the pavement – she’d done it once too last year and she still had the scar on her knee to show for it. ‘Could you get out my berry pouch? It’s in one of the front pockets.’
Danny did as she was told, and Talbot took out a blue berry that was round and appeared to have rather tough skin. He clenched it in his fist and it split open, revealing pale inner flesh that looked sinewy. He then placed some of the berry in Purrloin’s mouth before looking to Danny again.
‘Now could you get me some bandages?
‘I can do that,’ Mustard piped up. She dug into her pockets and pulled out a fresh roll of white cloth. ‘I always have some on me – use as much as you need – I’ve got plenty back at my shelter.’
Talbot frowned and his brow furrowed as he took the bandages. ‘As soon as we’re done, you’re taking us straight to the border without another word.’
Danny froze, taking in Talbot’s sudden sharp tone of voice. What on earth had made him speak to her like that?
Mustard raised an eyebrow, equally as taken aback. ‘Sure thing,’ she said quietly and whistled to her Pansear, who bounded over and climbed back up on her shoulders.
Purrloin grunted and began to stir, shaking her head slowly and carefully. Her eyes flickered and for a moment she lay their helplessly while Talbot smothered the cut with the rest of the berry and secured it with the bandages. ‘She’ll need time to recover,’ Talbot said after he was finished dressing Purrloin’s wounds. ‘But this should help her heal faster.’ He beckoned to Danny. ‘Let’s keep going – there’s nothing left to do here.’
. . .
The silence that fell amongst the group as they reached the borders of Striaton was not nice to Danny. It felt sticky and thick, sort of like a really wet blanket that had wrapped around her tightly and refused to let her go. She had opted to return Purrloin to her pokeball to get some much needed rest and she grasped the sphere in her hand tightly as she thought about the fight that had occurred. She gnawed at the corner of her mouth. If it hadn’t been for Talbot and Wigglytuff, she would’ve been in a lot of trouble once Purrloin had collapsed. She sighed under her breath. How was she going to protect herself against more of those scary looters if Talbot went missing?
‘There it is,’ Mustard said, breaking Danny’s concentration. ‘The exit to Route 3.’ She put her hand on her hips. ‘Beyond that is Nacrene City – which is at least another couple of days travel if you’re planning to walk.’
Talbot gave her a silent but curt nod. It didn’t stop him from refusing to meet her gaze, however. Danny’s heart sank. It wasn’t Mustard’s fault that the men had ambushed them. Why was he treating her like she’d done something really, really bad?
The buildings started receding and trees soon began to grow in number. Tarmac gave way to grass and slowly but surely the signs that they were still in Striaton ebbed away. ‘We should be able to keep going from here,’ Talbot said politely after a while. ‘I don’t think you need to follow us any longer.’
Danny bit her lip briefly. The tone might’ve been calm but it didn’t take her much to understand what Talbot was implying. And after seeing how hard Wigglytuff had hit the looter yesterday, she couldn’t blame Mustard’s steps from faltering.
Talbot was about to reach out for Danny’s hand when Mustard called out ‘Wait!’ He froze, the ghost of a frown twitching at the corner of his mouth, then pulled back steadily. Mustard dug her hand into one of the pockets of her coat, took something from it, and knelt down so that she could make eye contact with Danny. ‘I’m really sorry for the trouble back there,’ she said, her Pansear nodding as if to emphasise Mustard’s words. ‘I’d like to give you this – it’s not much, but it could come in useful at some point.’
She let go of the object and Danny found that Mustard had dropped what looked like a black stick in her palms that left black marks on her fingers. ‘What is this?’
‘It’s charcoal,’ Mustard replied. ‘It boosts the power of fire attacks when you give it to a pokemon.’ She glanced back towards the city. ‘As you can imagine I have plenty of the stuff, so you’re more than welcome to take that piece with you if you want.’
Danny smiled softly and pocketed the charcoal. ‘Thank you.’
Talbot cleared his throat. ‘Now if you don’t mind,’ he began. ‘We’ll be on our way.’ He took Danny’s hand and they started walking. ‘Come on, Danny.’
Danny waited for a few seconds before looking over her shoulder. Mustard and Pansear were still there, watching the both of them leave. She glanced back for a second to make sure Talbot wasn’t paying attention to her and waved to Mustard, offering her a friendly but silent goodbye. Mustard and Pansear returned the wave, and then they started walking the other way, returning to their home in Striaton.
They walked wordlessly for a while with Wigglytuff taking the lead, but eventually Talbot took a deep breath, grabbing Danny’s attention in the process. ‘This is why I travel alone,’ he began. ‘Because the more people you’re in the company of, the more likely you are to end up in danger.’ He looked down at her, his eyes reflecting that of a stern parent. ‘Do you understand?’
Danny drew a hand to her chest and grinded her teeth. No, it wouldn’t be smart to disagree with him. He was a grownup and grownups knew best, right?
She pulled the hand away and pressed her lips together tightly. ‘Yes Talbot,’ she said, stopping herself from making it sound like she was muttering. ‘I understand’
Talbot sighed and cast his gaze to the open road before them. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘The quicker you learn now, the better off you’ll be.’
